Miscellaneous

Hadziomerovic, Australia Take SilverAustralia could not complete another second-half rally and settles for silver

July 17, 2013

KAZAN, Russia -
Boise State rising junior Igor Hadziomerovic will return to the Broncos with a silver medal after Australia suffered an 81-74 defeat Tuesday, against host Russia in the championship game at the World University Games.

The Emerging Boomers trailed by as many as 15 in the second quarter and by 10 at halftime. After winning three of their previous four games from double-digit deficits, the Aussies came out of the break looking to do the same.

They quickly put together a 10-4 run in the early going of the third quarter and had the Russia lead down to four. Australia was even within two at the two-minute mark of the quarter, but Russia scored the next four points. The teams traded baskets for the final minute until Australia had it back to a five-point game. Just as it appeared that would be the margin headed into the final quarter, Russia scooped up a loose ball and hurled it into the basket from three-point range just as the buzzer sounded.

Even the eight-point margin did not deter Australia, which started the fourth on a quick 7-1 run and was two points from tying the game for the first time since less than three minutes into the contest. Instead, Russia countered with a 6-0 run and pushed its lead back to eight.

Australia could not get closer than six and settled for second place. The silver medal is a stark improvement from the 15th-place showing in 2011, the last World University Games. Prior to this year, Australia’s best finish was seventh place, which it enjoyed in 2003 and 2005.

The road to silver included wins against 13-time WUG champions United States, two-time defending gold-medalist Serbia and 2011 bronze-medalist Lithuania.. Australia became just the seventh country to defeat Team USA when the Boomers handed the Americans their 10th loss in 151 all-time games at the tournament.

Hadziomerovic played four minutes in the final, tallying one rebound and one assist. The runner-up finish brings to an end a busy and successful summer of playing on the international scene for the Bronco guard. Hadziomerovic started his offseason by being selected to the Boomers, the senior-most national team in Australia, for the Sino-Australia challenge. He played in the four-game series against a China team which featured 10 members of the 2012 Olympic squad.

Weeks later, Hadziomerovic was chosen to play with the Emerging Boomers in the World University Games. Before the team reached Russia, it made a stop in China for the Stankovic Cup. Playing five games in six days, Australia ran through the tune-up tournament and won the title with a perfect 5-0 mark.

Once at the World University Games, Hadziomerovic appeared in all eight contests, playing 12.6 minutes per game. He averaged 3.6 points, 2.8 rebounds 1.4 assists and 0.4 steals per game.

Hadziomerovic will return to Boise State for his third season in the Blue and Orange, looking to use his experience over the summer to supplement his 26 starts as a sophomore when he averaged 5.2 points and three rebounds per game. He is one of five returning starters for the Broncos, who are the only team in the country to reach the 2013 NCAA Tournament and return all five starters for the 2013-14 campaign.